Hey,
recently i got an X1 2.8 m-sport. I was curious if you guys think of it as a first car? is it excessive? would any of you give one to your kids? just curious... Today i had the epiphany that most fathers don't have //M cars and most people don't have luxury/'premium' cars at all!..

ps- it was for my 16th cake-day

aps- yes, i know that i am not normal.

aaps-On an unrelated note- why is it that the X1 has a different looking idrive than the new BMWs? it is 2014 model year too, shouldn't it have the same software as the rest of the 2014 lineup??

Bit excessive but probably better than a 1 series if the kid must have a BMW..

either way for a 16 y/o they should have a very safe and slow car.. you know it's only a matter of time until they get into an accident..

Don't humblebrag, it's in poor taste. There is always someone wealthier than you out there.

i agree, i am not trying to humble brag but i am trying to avoid the whole 'be grateful' BS, but, i am on a forum which seems to be free of the Consumer reports type communist that hate anything that is from Germany and has options

i am quite humble, i knew a guy who was almost always decked-out in lambo apparel, he did have a gallardo, but thats just obnoxious.

I did one even more stupid, in 2004 I bought my 16 year old son a 2002 M3 convertible. One day I let him drive my 2003 M3 coupe to school and he wrecked it so I sold his M3. Not bragging because now I'm retired and don't have that kind of money to waste but I learned the hard way. Never claimed it on insurance and paid $5,000 out of pocket to have mine fixed.

I would not personally buy anyone with less than 100,000 miles of driving under their belt a fast or expensive car.

Too much learning to do and too expensive to learn the hard way in a BMW.

Totally agree. Call me old school. The ideal first car for a 16 years old should be an older Corolla or alike, and earn their way up. It's reliable, low cost to run, simple enough for learning a few basic things about cars, and a good way to build healthy self confident with a not so fancy car.

Many parents giving fast and fancy cars to their kids here. It can only do more harm than good. Too many terrible accidents and sad stories as testimonies. Just my $0.02.

i agree, i am not trying to humble brag but i am trying to avoid the whole 'be grateful' BS, but, i am on a forum which seems to be free of the Consumer reports type communist that hate anything that is from Germany and has options

Careful how you toss your ignorant stereotypes around.
I'm a communist - Engels fan. And I love German engineering and drive a BMW. Sometimes with The Internationale through the HK speakers.
All paid for through actual work, not capital gains.

Back to the original question, I don't think any kid should be given a car. They should earn one.
What kind of car should of course be up to them. If it's unsafe, that's their choice. If they lose all their hard earned money in a crash, that teaches them an important lesson. If they kill themselves, that's Darwin in action.

OP;
Yup. I'd buy my kids an X1.
The xDrive 2.8i is a about a safe a vehicle as you could get for them
I bought each of my kids 2 cars each between the time they were finishing high school and finished their masters in university.
I couldn't afford BMWs at the time, but if I could have, I would have.
The money is going to them eventually anyway, so let them have a bit of fun now.

Totally agree. Call me old school. The ideal first car for a 16 years old should be an older Corolla or alike, and earn their way up. It's reliable, low cost to run, simple enough for learning a few basic things about cars, and a good way to build healthy self confident with a not so fancy car.

Many parents giving fast and fancy cars to their kids here. It can only do more harm than good. Too many terrible accidents and sad stories as testimonies. Just my $0.02.

+1

Totally agree. Until the kids learn responsibility, they don't deserve anything other than a nice reliable used car - that's speaking from experience with two grown kids, both totalled their first cars and my son, twice over. Neither were injured, but goes to prove my point. Used cars are easy to replace, not expensive and easy on the insurance, too.

Just to throw this out there. I do not have kids but I've thought about this subject quite a bit over the years. I'm all for safety and small cars IMO just aren't safe if you live where everyone drives bigger and heavier vehicles. An A4 or 3 series (or X1) will be safer than a corolla or civic but I do like the idea that kids have to earn things and I probably would pass on a 'luxury' car at 16..

I'd really consider getting my kids into an F150 or something along that line. I hate trucks, and they're not my thing but an F150 is inexpensive used, cheap to repair, higher off the ground (usually better in an accident if you have a lot of SUV's and jacked up trucks around), doesn't have a lot of power to get them in trouble and if they do hit a curb or object it will do no or very little damage compared to other cars in the same situation. It gives a higher sitting position which I think is helpful to new drivers as well. I hope about when they're 20+ they can afford to buy their own car and will leave the truck category as a distant memory and get a safe, fun, and enjoyable car that they've earned and respect more.

Would you want your kid dead after a freak accident? Accidents aren't always the fault of the young driver, you know.

If it's due to the car not being safe, yes, it is. The driver is always responsible for the safety of the vehicle. Whether you're 18 or 81.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMBC2015

And kids should only be concerned with one thing at driving age: school.

Then don't give them a car. It's a major distraction. I know, I was young once, and unlike many parents, I remember.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMBC2015

It is the job of the parents to support him or her, by giving them a means to get to school and extracurricular activities.

Absolutely. Bus passes and driving them when need be.
If they want to play adult and drive, they need to take on all the responsibilities of being a driver. If they're too young for that, they shouldn't drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMBC2015

I guess you can call this a cultural thing, but I feel dumbfounded when idiot parents throw their own children out there to feed/pay for school themselves. What good are parents then?

Well, for one thing, they vote for public education, so kids don't have to pay for schools, no matter who their parents are.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMBC2015

Sorry for the rant, but I absolutely hate this ignorant and selfish attitude of some parents, TO THEIR OWN KIDS!!

My first vehicle (1980) was a 1972 Grand Prix with a Pontiac 400 engine in it. It was one of the early 70s muscle cars and despite how well my parents taught me, it is a miracle I did not die in that car. As a 16 year old, you have teenage urges that will overcome most parental teaching in the wrong moment(s) of peer pressure, street racing, etc It is a fact of life for most kids. That's why they're teens and still act a lot on impulse vs training or teaching. I had the speedo on that car pegged more than once passed 125mph and it was a floaty boat at that speed.

Now honestly do I think a 28i MSport is an ok first car ? Yeah it's OK, there's more powerful vehicles one could get, but the 28i M Sport is no slouch either and can land you in jail, hospital, or morgue without much effort.

My first car was a e46 Coupe.... i would want my Kids to be in the safest car i can afford. Also i learned that if i wrecked my car i would not be getting another that is = values. On that note i would say a base X1 28i is a good first car if you can afford it.

My first car my dad bought me was a 1960 Ford Falcon station wagon and to me it was a M6. Wheels are wheels at that age (16) back in 1969 so be grateful for what you have. Believe it or not he paid $35 for it, I swear and I think he overpaid as it was a POS.

No sir wrong answer. My first car was a 1996 saturn sl1 that was given to me and it was a great little car and very reliable. That is the kinda car i would buy for a kid. People need to earn stuff and not just have it handed down to them without working for it. I saved up a lot of money and worked very hard to buy my current bimmer.

Having seen the most clean cut well raised and taught kids drive terribly, take unskilled and sometimes high speed risks, and easily distracted by peer passengers I would not buy something like an X1 for a young new driver. I'd look for safe and not quick with very poor or no rear seat space (to cut back on the potential number of distracting other kid passengers).